Determining a spatial relationship between different user contexts

• US 9,807,725 B1
• Filed: 04/09/2015
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Knowles Electronics Llc (Knowles Corporation), Sensor Platforms, Incorporated (Knowles Corporation)
• Inventors: Vitus, Deborah Kathleen, Joseph, Benjamin E., Shaw, Kevin A., Steele, James V., Murgia, Carlo
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehra, Inder
• Application Number:
  US14/683,057
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561, 4554563, 4554141, 455418, 455411, 4554143, 455 412, 455457, 455466, 4555501, 455 261, 455410, 455415, 455416, 455421, 455423, 455444, 4554565, 4555561, 455 6711, 370254, 370329, 707798, 707716, 705 1458
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/00 Beacons or beacon systems transmitting signals having a characteristic or characteristics capable of being detected by non-directional receivers and defining directions, positions, or position lines fixed relatively to the beacon transmitters; Receivers co-operating therewith position fixing by co-ordinating a plurality of determinations of direction or position lines G01S5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0264 at least one of the systems being a non-radio wave positioning system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities

Abstract

A processing apparatus including one or more processors and memory determines a first context of a first user at a first location in a physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of a set of one or more devices coupled to the first user and detects movement of the first user to a second location in the physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the devices. The processing apparatus determines a second context of the first user at the second location based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the devices and generates, based on the first context, the second context, and the movement of the user from the first location to the second location, a first mapping of the physical space that includes information corresponding to a spatial relationship between the first context and the second context.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a first context of a first user at a first location in a physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of a set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

detecting movement of the first user to a second location in the physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

determining a second context of the first user at the second location based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

generating, based on the first context, the second context, and the movement of the user from the first location to the second location, a first mapping of the physical space that includes information corresponding to a spatial relationship between the first context and the second context;

after generating the first mapping, storing mapping information based at least in part on the first mapping for use in interpreting sensor measurements to determine movement of one or more users through the physical space; and

providing the mapping information to one or more devices coupled to a second user different from the first user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first mapping is a directed graph that includes:

a plurality of nodes that correspond to locations in the physical space; and

one or more links that each connect a respective pair of two nodes from the plurality of nodes and indicate that it is possible, in the physical space, to move between the two nodes in the respective pair of nodes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a respective link connecting two respective nodes includes information about one or more differences between the two respective nodes, wherein the one or more differences include one or more of:

a distance between the two respective nodes in the physical place;

a difference in altitude between the two respective nodes;

a difference in temperature between the two respective nodes;

a difference in humidity between the two respective nodes;

a difference in use heading between the two respective nodes;

a difference in atmospheric pressure between the two respective nodes;

a difference in magnetic field between the two respective nodes;

a difference in detected sound between the two respective nodes; and

a difference in light detected between the two respective nodes.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein a respective link connecting two respective nodes includes information about differences in a respective variable between the two respective nodes and changes in the variable that occur as the link is traversed.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting other movement of one or more users between contexts in the physical space; and

generating, based on the other movement of the one or more users between the contexts in the physical space, one or more additional mappings of the physical space, including a second mapping of the physical space, that include information corresponding to one or more respective spatial relationships between respective contexts in the physical space.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second mapping is based on at least one of:

movement of the first user between contexts in the physical space; and

movement of a second user, different from the first user, between contexts in the physical space.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first mapping is different from the second mapping and the method includes generating a combined mapping of the physical space that is based on the first mapping and the second mapping.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the first mapping and the second mapping each include a plurality of nodes corresponding to different contexts and a plurality of links between the nodes; and

generating the combined mapping includes combining a link from the first mapping that connects the first node and the second node with a link from the second mapping that connects the first node and the second node.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the first mapping and the second mapping each include a plurality of nodes corresponding to different contexts and a plurality of links between the nodes; and

generating the combined mapping includes combining a node from the first mapping with a node from the second mapping so that links connecting to the node from the first mapping and links connecting to the node from the second mapping connect to a combined node in the combined mapping.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the combined mapping of the physical space further comprises:

identifying a first node in the first mapping that corresponds to a fixed point in the physical space;

identifying a second node in the second mapping that corresponds to the fixed point in the physical space; and

aligning the first mapping with the second mapping using the first node and the second node as reference points.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after generating the first mapping:

monitoring a plurality of subsequent traversals of the first mapping by one or more users;

identifying a set of three or more contexts that are repeatedly traversed in a respective order during the subsequent traversals of the first mapping; and

updating the first mapping to identify the set of contexts as a subgroup of the first mapping.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

while determining a respective context of the first user, obtaining information indicating that three or more people are present in the respective context;

wherein generating the first mapping includes identifying the respective context in the first mapping as a group meeting space.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first context is determined based at least in part on a heading of a user while the user is at the first location.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after storing the mapping information:

detecting movement of the first user based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the set of one or more devices coupled to the first user; and

determining a change in context of the first user based on the detected movement and the mapping information; and

adjusting operation of a respective device of the one or more devices coupled to the first user based on the change in context of the first user.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the mapping information includes information indicative of differences in one or more environmental parameters between the first context and the second context; and

the method further includes, in response to detecting that the user has moved from the first context to the second context, adjusting operation of the device in accordance with the differences in the one or more environmental parameters.

16. The method of claim 1, including:

detecting movement of a respective device through the physical space;

comparing the movement of the respective device through the physical space to a plurality of mappings of the physical space that correspond to different users;

identifying a respective mapping of the physical space that is consistent with the movement of the device through the physical space; and

in response to identifying the respective mapping of the physical space as being consistent with the movement of the device through the physical space, identifying the user that corresponds to the respective mapping as the current user of the respective device.

17. A processing apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;

a set of one or more sensors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for;

determining a first context of a first user at a first location in a physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of a set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

detecting movement of the first user to a second location in the physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

determining a second context of the first user at the second location based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

generating, based on the first context, the second context, and the movement of the user from the first location to the second location, a first mapping of the physical space that includes information corresponding to a spatial relationship between the first context and the second context;

after generating the first mapping, storing mapping information based at least in part on the first mapping for use in interpreting sensor measurements to determine movement of one or more users through the physical space; and

providing the mapping information to one or more devices coupled to a second user different from the first user.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, perform steps of a method, the method comprising:

determining a first context of a first user at a first location in a physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of a set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

detecting movement of the first user to a second location in the physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

determining a second context of the first user at the second location based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the set of one or more devices coupled to the first user;

generating, based on the first context, the second context, and the movement of the user from the first location to the second location, a first mapping of the physical space that includes information corresponding to a spatial relationship between the first context and the second context;

after generating the first mapping, storing mapping information based at least in part on the first mapping for use in interpreting sensor measurements to determine movement of one or more users through the physical space; and

providing the mapping information to one or more devices coupled to a second user different from the first user.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from one or more sensors, sensor data for motion tracking of at least one of the one or more devices;

processing, by a hardware processor, the sensor data for the motion tracking of the least one of the one or more devices; and

adjusting, by the hardware processor, the motion tracking based on interaction data, the interaction data indicative of interaction of a user with the least one of the one or more devices.